The Count: Golden Age of Punting May Be Short-Lived

The current state of NFL punting? It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. Punters are booming the ball farther than ever, and serving a vital role on bad teams. Yet the signature play of the season so far was a coach’s decision not to punt in what seemed like an obvious punting situation. Other coaches also are thinking twice about punting. It is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness. Teams are using and avoiding punting with more intelligence, yet too many of them won’t opt to keep the ball until desperation has set in and it is essentially too late.